Rosebud owner plans late-night comfort food spot in River North

(Crain’s) — Rosebud Restaurants Inc. is planning a new eatery in River North that will feature fresh-made baked goods in the morning, comfort foods at lunch and dinner and a kitchen that will be open well past midnight.

The café, dubbed Eatt, is under construction and is slated to open by June at 6 W. Hubbard St., the longtime home of Vong’s Thai Kitchen, a popular Lettuce Entertain You Inc. restaurant that closed in December when its lease was up.

The concept is loosely modeled after European cafes that are open for breakfast – where diners often grab bread or pastries to go – and then cater to lunchtime, dinnertime and bar-time crowds, says Rosebud owner Alex Dana. Eatt will stay open until either 2 a.m. or 4 a.m.

“Chicago has certainly become a nightclub city, much more than it used to be,” Mr. Mott says. “You can only go to the Wieners Circle so many times.”

Rosebud, which is best known for upscale Italian restaurants and steakhouses, is looking to capitalize on the popularity of the Hubbard Street area for diners and club-goers. Mr. Dana says he also expects Eatt’s fare, items such as short ribs, hamburgers and tuna sandwiches, to play well in a difficult economy.

“It’s going to be a little higher-end comfort food with a real heavy value to the portions,” says Mr. Dana, whose Chicago-based Rosebud has 11 locations in the city and suburbs, including a Rosebud Trattoria in River North at 445 N. Dearborn St.

Mr. Dana first tested some elements of the comfort-food menu last year in west suburban Naperville, where he overhauled the menu of the Rosebud there to focus on items like hamburgers, chicken in a basket, ribs and hot dogs. The experiment lasted only about six months, though, as an outcry from the locals for the old Rosebud menu prompted Mr. Dana to reverse course.

He says the comfort food was well-received, though the family-oriented Naperville crowd was more interested in having Rosebud’s traditional Italian menu than they were in paying upwards of $8 for a burger.

“Sometimes you’re not as smart as everybody thinks you are, and you’ve got to be willing to eat a little crow,” Mr. Dana says. “The town was so caught up with our Italian culinary, they didn’t want to hear about burgers. They wanted their spaghetti back.”

That’s partly why Eatt will have its own, distinct brand separate from Rosebud, Mr. Dana says. He also thinks the River North location is well-positioned for the concept because of the tourist crowd along with nearby bars, restaurants and hotels.

“That location is so hot. There’s so much foot traffic,” he says. “There are a lot of people in the (restaurant) industry who work late and want a place to eat after work. There are all the people in their hotels. They don’t want to eat in their rooms….”

Things are getting BUSY for me and for pretty much all other agents I’ve talked to lately. Buyers are coming out in droves to get started with their home searches, a lot are determined to buy before the April 30th deadline for the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit, and sellers are taking advantage of it by getting their homes listed! Let me know if you need any help with your dive into the real estate market and send me a quick email. jeffstewart@atproperties.com. Check out my @properties agent website by clicking HERE!

Thanks to Skyscrapercity user “spyguy” for the three photos! Rumor, and I mean rumor is that this new residential high rise development is actually two separate buildings called Parkway Point. The smaller building is rumored to have 50 condos and will be around 114ft tall. The taller building may have 60 units and will be 150ft tall. Thankfully, it looks like Parkway Point will include parking which is definitely necessary given the lack of parking already in the neighborhood.

In order for Parkway Point to be built, a courtyard apartment building, another retail building, and a parking lot will need to be demolished. As much as I love new development, I do have to say that I am slightly bummed because that vintage courtyard building is nice and looks well maintained. But I bet I’d get over it fast when I see this finished.

Another thing I’m NOT looking forward to are the NIMBY’s that will make this development very difficult to get off the ground. I have a feeling this will get massively scaled back or won’t ever happen because of neighboring residents “concerns.”

Does anyone have additional info on this project??? Feel free to share!

What do you think? After eating for an entire day, I was sitting bored and trying not to give in to the tryptophan so I did a little editing for Roosevelt University’s new proposed dormitory and educational building, located at 425 S. Wabash Avenue in Chicago’s Loop.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to take a minute to say Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you all eat way too much food and get to spend time with family and friends! I can officially say I’m uncomfortably full right now…